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Old 07-26-2016, 02:20 PM
 
Location: Lakeside
5,266 posts, read 8,692,765 times
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We have studs (some mounted on wheels) for winter driving. Tires aren't my department, they're my husbands but I will recommend and so will he, Les Schwab. Never, ever anywhere we've lived have we had loyalty to a tire store or chain, but Les Schwab is different. They are awesome.
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Old 07-26-2016, 02:21 PM
 
Location: Lakeside
5,266 posts, read 8,692,765 times
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Also, for your pickup, if it doesn't have a cap on it...you'll want sandbags or something heavy in the bed to weigh it down during snow season.
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Old 07-27-2016, 02:15 PM
 
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Dave,
I like your idea of doing one with and one without, because it will give you a performance baseline for comparison in all conditions throughout the winter. I would think the AWD would be better for the studs, since it's always active, but someone more experienced might have a different opinion.
One other consideration is that you don't have to install studs immediately on the tires when you have them mounted. As long as the tread isn't worn too much, they can add the studs later.
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Old 07-27-2016, 02:43 PM
 
Location: North Idaho
2,391 posts, read 2,989,163 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by mistyriver View Post
We have studs (some mounted on wheels) for winter driving. Tires aren't my department, they're my husbands but I will recommend and so will he, Les Schwab. Never, ever anywhere we've lived have we had loyalty to a tire store or chain, but Les Schwab is different. They are awesome.
Quote:
Originally Posted by mistyriver View Post
Also, for your pickup, if it doesn't have a cap on it...you'll want sandbags or something heavy in the bed to weigh it down during snow season.
Thanks. Are you fans of Les Schwab the chain, or one particular store?

I agree we'll want to figure a way to carry some weight in the pickup for the best traction in snow/ice. Pickups suffer from not enough weight over the rear wheels. It's also true that the type of 4WD system typically found in pickups isn't the best solution for snow and ice either.


Quote:
Originally Posted by aiden_is View Post
Dave,
I like your idea of doing one with and one without, because it will give you a performance baseline for comparison in all conditions throughout the winter. I would think the AWD would be better for the studs, since it's always active, but someone more experienced might have a different opinion.
One other consideration is that you don't have to install studs immediately on the tires when you have them mounted. As long as the tread isn't worn too much, they can add the studs later.
I am liking the idea of starting out with one studded and one without studs so we can see how they compare. My only reservation is whether we'll really be able to make a comparison given the significant differences between the two vehicles.

Good point about adding studs later if desired. If we wanted to add studs later we'd just need to make sure we get a tire that is studdable - I don't think all winter tires can be studded.

Dave
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Old 07-27-2016, 02:50 PM
 
Location: Del Rio, TN
39,804 posts, read 26,292,352 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Cnynrat View Post
Sorry to bring this thread back in the middle of summer, but we're doing some planning to get ready for our first winter in NID. I want to figure out how we want to set up our cars with respect to winter tires so if I see a good bargain we can jump on it.

We have two vehicles we want to use in the winter: A Ford F350 4WD and a Jeep Cherokee that is AWD/4WD. Both normally have All Terrain/Mud and Snow tires on them (not dedicated winter tires).

We are planning to get a second set of wheels for both vehicles with whatever we decide to run for winter tires mounted so I can easily swap them as needed.

We live in the eastern part of Sagle, about 10 miles from Rt95. Most of our drive into town is on Sagle Rd. My wife has an office in Sandpoint, so she will need to drive into town daily unless the conditions are really miserable. I'm retired, so I can hole up at home for a while until the roads are clear. Actually, the reality is I'll probably be catching up on my sleep after getting up at 4AM to clear the driveway so my wife can get out.

The main question is studs or studless. I've read some research that indicates that studs are only better then modern dedicated winter tires without studs under a very specific set of circumstances, namely on ice at or around the freezing point. Once you get well below freezing studs loose their advantage. The report didn't identify why, but what I suspect is that at colder temps the ice gets hard enough that studs can't get as much "bite" into the ice, so the superior traction of the very soft winter tires with siping takes over. BTW, the conditions identified in the report when studs work best sound very much like the sort of treacherous conditions that Toyman describes above.

Reviewing this thread it seems that the consensus opinion here among NID residents is to go with studded tires. Anyone care to chime an updated opinion on that? Is the choice of studs made to deal with that specific icy condition near freezing, and do you then find that studs work "well enough" in other conditions even if they may give up a little to a dedicated winter tire? Would it be crazy of us to outfit one car with studs and the other without? If so, which would you put the studs on?

Any other thoughts based on folk's experience up here would be welcome.

Thanks,
Dave
The thing is-those are precisely the conditions when winter driving is truly dangerous. And we do get a fair number of days when temperatures transition from below to above freezing, when there is also ice and hard packed snow on the roads. In my experience, studded tires are the only useful aid in those conditions.

It is true that when temperatures are colder (say 20* or below) that studless tires may outperform studded. Thing is, when it's cold, any tire will be generally be adequate (unless in DEEP snow anyway). Plain all-seasons are adequate, and when it's down around zero driving on ice is little different than driving on a gravel road. Granted, dedicated snows are better-I did say adequate.

My problem with studless tires is that they fail to perform at the very time that they are most needed.
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Old 07-27-2016, 03:06 PM
 
Location: Lakeside
5,266 posts, read 8,692,765 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Cnynrat View Post
Thanks. Are you fans of Les Schwab the chain, or one particular store?

I agree we'll want to figure a way to carry some weight in the pickup for the best traction in snow/ice. Pickups suffer from not enough weight over the rear wheels. It's also true that the type of 4WD system typically found in pickups isn't the best solution for snow and ice either.




I am liking the idea of starting out with one studded and one without studs so we can see how they compare. My only reservation is whether we'll really be able to make a comparison given the significant differences between the two vehicles.

Good point about adding studs later if desired. If we wanted to add studs later we'd just need to make sure we get a tire that is studdable - I don't think all winter tires can be studded.

Dave
The chain though the Sandpoint and Priest River stores are the ones we use most.
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